BRAHMS ON THE PIANO – VOLUME 2 / Ivo Varbanov, piano

Description

Varbanov, in the all-Brahms album (004), demonstrates impressive muscle and endurance in the sonata, taming its trenchant writing and shaping its sprawling form with disciplined mind and hands. [In] Brahms’s four ballades… Varbanov tells the timeless tales in tones of deep tolling. — Jerry Dubins, Fanfare

Varbanov’s powerful, muscular reading of [Brahms’s] op. 1 Sonata leaves no doubt of his authority. I was particularly impressed by the sweep of the first movement and the touching simplicity Varbanov brings to the folksong-based slow movement. — Huntley Dent, Fanfare